Nissan’s electric jobs promise for Spain

It may only be a drop in the vast and deep ocean of Spanish unemployment, but Japanese carmaker Nissan has said it is to create 700 new jobs by increasing production at its plant in Barcelona, Spain.

The vehicle it will build there, from next year, is an electric version of its NV200 van which can also be configured as a people carrier or taxi.

Nissan is confident enough of a market that it is investing one hundred million euros and Executive Vice President Andy Palmer said choosing Barcelona made sense: “The merits of this factory – obviously Nissan has been here an awful long time, the quality of the work done here, the quality of the workers and their expertise particularly in light commercial vehicles makes it a very easy decision for us to put this vehicle here.”

The new model is Nissan’s second all-electric vehicle after the LEAF passenger car and those made in Barcelona will be exported worldwide.

The petrol engined version of the NV200 has been chosen as the basis for the next generation of New York’s iconic yellow cabs.

Copyright © 2013 euronews